The Stormborn Saga (a complete triple trilogy omnibus)

An epic sword and sorcery fantasy adventure

By: J.T. Williams

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Epic adventure, heroic friendships, and a dark foe capable of bending time and magic to its will.

**BUNDLE DISCOUNT! Grab three COMPLETE trilogies and even get one bonus novella for 8.99! (Normally $24.99!)**

Valrin has always sought adventure... but he never knew his true tie to the vast seas and how his every choice could rock the very foundations of the world.

On a desolate island in the far North, Valrin is an orphan surrounded by empty oceans with a yearning for a life beyond the icy shores of his home. Little does he know that this morning would set him on a path he never expected. Chosen by the ascended and destined for darkness, he will soon learn what it means to be Stormborn.

Facing dwarven pirates, exploring forgotten ruins, and unlocking a sailing vessel with the secrets of a lost race, he'll race across the oceans as he prepares to take the helm of his destiny in this coming-of-age adventure like none other.

This series has everything: Dragon riders, sea monsters, vampire lords, a sneaky rogue, a shadow elf wizard (and his albino sea snake, Rasi!) ... if you can imagine it, Valrin and the crew will likely meet it, friend it, or face it in battle!

If you're expecting the typical coming-of-age story... you couldn't be more wrong. This saga is a blending of epic fantasy and the Indian Vedic Mahābhārata with a sprinkle of Dungeon and Dragons-inspired characters and a host of enemies and companions like none other!

Included in this set:

1. Stormborn
2. Mage Soul
3. Elf Bane
4. Ranger's Fury
5. Black Moon
6. Aieclo
7. Epochs
8. Shards of Etha
9. Shadow Cry
10. Dark Compass (book one of a new trilogy)

PRAISE FOR THE STORMBORN SAGA:

"I could not and did not want to stop reading." -Aaron, Amazon Reviewer ★★★★★

"This series is full of good heart-pounding adventures at every turn, love it. I am getting every book by this author written in this imaginary universe. Fantasy with magic at its best. Get the series and I hope you lose lots of sleep as I did." -DextonL, Amazon Reviewer ★★★★★

"I was riveted from the beginning to the end!" -APBT Fan, Amazon Reviewer ★★★★★

JT Williams makes all his characters feel like main characters. In this Stormborn Saga you will find strong independent REAL female characters, plus multiple story arcs. The growth that each of the characters work through is written with depth & explored well. The fight scenes aren't sugar-coated, and you can tell the author loves a good battle. I can't wait for the final book in this saga to be released, if you are wondering where to jump in at in this massive universe, this is the best place to start." -Sabetha Danes, AconiteCafe Reviews ★★★★★

Pleasantly surprised.

I was hesitant to get this book because of the virtual voice. The one that I'd tried before was not good, very monotoned with lots of mispronunciations, saying the name one way in this part, and another in that. However, this voice is different, not really monotone at all. Yes, they still get some words wrong, as the other reviewer mentioned. In all fairness, there are many words in the English language that are spelled the same, spoken just the same, spelled differently but spoken the same, etc etc.. I think they get a pass on this one. :) Other than those cases of same words different pronunciations/spellings, I had no complaints at all on its reading.

The story is good, keeping me engaged in their adventures all the while. The virtual voice isn't using 'Acting voices' but instead, is just a nice voice, reading you a story. I'm enjoying it. I love being read to, so maybe its just me? Well done Audible, please have more read in this voice. :)

Story is amazing...but...

The virtual voice is maddening. No emotion, no annotations, nothing even close to human. I finished it, but it was awful. Please do away with the virtual voicing.

Virtual Voice needs a lot of work

The story is good and well written. However, virtual voice nearly ruined it for me. The repetitive mispronunciations were appalling. An archer shoots a bow(bō). The person bends at the waist to bow(bôw) before the Queen. Virtual voice says both like a bough if a tree. This kind of error should be easy to fix or prevent. Or just pay a voice actor to do if right and with all the intention. inflection and variation that bards use to entrance the audience

Lack of depth.

First, I had to complete the first two books before I was allowed to submit a review, which probably skews the reviews higher. The virtual voice does a much better job than AI voices I have heard in the past, but it does sometimes use confusing inflection and phrasing. Even human readers sometimes struggle with "bow" in stories with both boats and arrows, though.
The writing itself sometimes has odd language choices, and the virtual voice just adds to the confusion. I compared a few sections to the human-read version (free on a popular video platform) and it was frequently just as awkward.
Overall this feels like an exciting story told by a teenager. Characters are only mentioned when they do something important and they have little depth, so sometimes it's difficult to keep track of which ones are present, let alone what their personalities and goals are. I have no idea what any of the characters look like, what color their hair is, or what they are wearing. Everything lacks description to the point that I have trouble picturing the story.
A lot of the story is dialog that doesn't make sense, hinting at mysteries in an attempt to build suspense, but building frustration and apathy instead.
The interactions frequently strain credulity. For example, the heroes kill some big spiders and then are attacked with fire and ice from the darkness, they shoot an arrow and a spell into the dark, then some monks come out and want to be friends. The heroes ask about the spiders and the monk says they were proud to have nursed the spiders (their friends) back to health from the brink of death. The heroes make a joke about the brink of death no longer being a problem, and they go off with the monks to have a beer. What? The story has lots of scenes like this with very little holding it together. Nothing clues us in to the thoughts or motivations of anyone other than the dialog, without any description of inflection or body language.
If you like mindless tropy action with cookie-cutter characters and no boring interpersonal relationship nonsense, this is for you.

could be good. narration is immersion breaking

story could have been interesting, but the AI narration nakes it so that i never know who is talking. for me, this is literally unlistenable.